Computer Security and Privacy
Faith Smith and Lauren Taylor
Physical safety of your computer
Ways to protect your computer
- Never plug in your computer during an electrical storm. If a computer is plugged in during a storm, a sudden surge of electricity can be transmitted through the power lines and go directly to your computer, and the battery could overpower and break down or in extreme cases, explode.
- Keep a protective case on your computer. Doing this will protect the exterior of the computer when it is accidentally dropped.
- Keep away from animals or small children to prevent damage to your computer. Most small children and animals do not understand the importance of computers, so they might mishandle and break it.
Internal safety of your computer
Ways to protect your information
- Do not open email messages from unfamiliar senders, or email attachments that you don't recognize. Email is a very common place hackers try to get into your computer. An email with an attachment from a sender you don't recognize can contain harmful contents to your computer. Also, open messages from addresses you don't know.
- Use a pop-up blocker with your browser. Pop-ups on certain websites can contains viruses as well so having a pop-up blocker can prevent those viruses from attaching to your computer.
- Use different or complex passwords for everything you sign up for. Hackers will always try to log in to important accounts you have like social media and other programs. By using complex passwords, it will make it very hard for hackers to guess your password. A complex password will contain both letters and numbers, upper and lower case, and some symbols as well.
- Back up your data on a regular basis. If your computer does get damaged, having all you files and data on an external storage device will preserve those important files if they are lost.
- Enlist the supports of experts. If you have issues with your device, a professional is the one to ask. They would know the most about what is going on and will be the most able to help you solve the issue.